D11.0 Final Examination Policies

Final examination week is a mandatory component of the academic term designed to meet New York State and regional accreditation requirements for instructional hours.

The University scheduled final examination time periods meet this requirement.   Final examinations are to be given during this time period and instructors must make clear in their syllabi how they will meet this requirement.  If the final assessment is not conducive to a scheduled classroom format, the alternative must be clearly stated on the syllabus, disclosed to the department head, and satisfy the course instructional credit hours as defined in policy D01.V.  Under no circumstances shall a final examination or final assessment be scheduled on Reading Day.

The Registrar's Office will provide the final examination schedule and make it available to the entire RIT community no later than the first day of each term. Instructors may not change the official date and time of the exam. In extraordinary circumstances, instructors may request their department head for a change in time. This request must be received by the end of week three (3).  The department head will work with the college scheduling officer in an attempt to change the time of the exam. The decision of the department head shall be final.

If a student has two finals scheduled at the same time, the student must request a scheduling change.

Students shall not be required to take more than two examinations or more than twelve (12) hours of exams on a single day.  In such an instance, the student may request a scheduling change.

Whenever a scheduling change needs to be made, service course examinations will take precedence over home department course examinations. If two or more of the examinations are in the home department, the department head will resolve the issue. If two or more examinations are service course examinations, the class with the larger enrollment will have precedence over the others.  Multi-section courses with a common final exam scheduled will be treated as a single class for these purposes.

In all cases requiring a scheduling change, the student should submit a written request for rescheduling no later than four (4) weeks before the first day of final examinations. The written request should be submitted to the head of the home department with a copy to the instructor being asked to provide the rescheduled examination. The department head will, after consultation with the parties involved, notify the student of the date of the rescheduled examination no later than two weeks before the first day of final examinations. The decision of the department head shall be considered to be final.

Responsible Office:
Office of the Provost/Faculty Senate.  Inquiries can be directed to:

Faculty Senate:
fsenate@rit.edu
(585)475-2016

Office of the Provost
academicaffairs@rit.edu
(585)475-5572

Effective Date:
Approved August 1980

Policy History:
Revised May 3, 2001
Edited August 2010
Revised March 28, 2013
Revised April 18, 2019 - revisions throughout the policy